The Escape Artist
by Crysania
Summary: Tumblr prompt: Rumple and Belle get a puppy! I sort of did this before with Solutions so this is a follow-up featuring their puppy, Chip. (Part 7 of my Tumblr 100 follower prompt-a-thon)


The first time Chip escaped, Belle spent nearly an hour chasing him down in the park. The others there found her greatly amusing and a few even tried to grab the little guy but he was far too fast for them all. Who knew that moving puppies were as easy to catch as greased pigs? It wasn't until he ran out of energy, collapsing into a pile of nearly boneless puppy behind a bush that she was able to get her hands on him and hook his leash back up.

The fourth time Chip escaped Belle had been forced to chase him down the streets in her high heels. She had been taking him out for a short walk and he slipped his collar. She had kept it fairly loose, afraid she'd hurt his delicate little neck. And then he saw something, pulled back, and was gone. Lucky for her Chip was excited to meet other dogs and so by the time she caught up to him, leash and collar in hand, he had been caught by Archie as he greeted Pongo. Archie was kind enough to adjust the collar and fit it properly, but she was embarrassed nonetheless.

The seventh time Chip escaped she was thankfully wearing sneakers. But that didn't mean she could chase him down any faster. He raced off across the park with Belle close on his heels, shouting his name. Unfortunately he made a beeline straight for Regina. Belle screamed his name and cringed as the dog collided with Regina's leg, almost knocking the mayor off her feet. She had turned around with a slight squeal and nearly kicked the little dog when he tried to latch onto her pant leg. Belle quickly scooped him up and Regina gave her one of _those_ looks. _There are leash laws, Miss French. I suggest you follow them_. And then she was storming off in the other direction and Belle cringed when she saw the slight tear in the bottom of one pant leg.

The eleventh time Chip escaped, it was Rumplestiltskin himself who the puppy went running after. She had the puppy out in the park, off leash, trying to teach him to come when called. She figured of all things that was the most important at this point. But instead, he saw Rumplestiltskin coming toward them and he was off like a shot to greet him. Belle went running after the puppy again (she sure was getting her exercise) and when he saw her coming, took off in yet another direction. She stopped near Rumplestiltskin and the puppy stopped some ten or so feet away from them both, little tail in the air as he play-bowed and got ready to make a mad dash away yet again. Belle took a step toward him and he ran in a large circle around them, yipping the whole way.

"Trouble, my dear?" Rumplestiltskin asked her, a smile playing about his lips.

Belle stood up on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "Oh no, no trouble at all." She watched the puppy with dismay.

"No?"

"He keeps escaping, Rumple." She sighed. "I don't think he likes me very much."

He shook his head at her. "Nonsense, dear. That puppy adores you. He just thinks it's a game. He runs, you chase him. It's great fun…for him at least."

She cocked her head at him. "How do you know all that?" Belle's experience with animals was rather minimal. She could ride a horse if the need arose. She had given milk to the cats who took care of the vermin at her father's castle. But she hadn't spent much time thinking about _training_ the animals to do anything. They were just there, for her to visit or not as she pleased.

"I did say I spent some time around a sheepdog or two, didn't I? I had a small sheep farm, many years ago, and I trained the sheepdog myself…"

"Why didn't you ever tell me that?" Belle was a bit cross at his leaving out that pertinent information. She would have asked for advice long ago, maybe even before Chip had accosted Regina.

He shrugged his shoulders and smirked at her. "Well, you seemed to want to do it yourself…"

"Because I didn't _know _that I had a dog expert right here!"

"I'm not an expert."

"More than _I_ am, that's for sure!"

"Belle, please!" Their raised voices were carrying across the small park and some were stopping to stare. They were becoming as well known for their shouting matches as they were for their making up, sometimes a little too publicly for most people's comfort.

They both settled down, Chip standing nearby looking at them with a somewhat worried crease to his brow. The puppy was fairly sensitive to raised voices and tension. Belle squatted down to grab him and was rather displeased to see him dance back away from her yet again. She took another step and he moved further away. She turned to Rumplestiltskin with a raised eyebrow.

"A game, dear," he reminded her.

"So then what on earth am I supposed to do to get him to come to me?" The exasperation in her voice was clear.

"You're cute when you're annoyed," he said and lightly tapped her on the nose. When her cheeks reddened in anger, he backed up a pace. "Alright alright. I'll show you."

Rumplestiltskin looked at Chip for a moment and then took a step toward him. Belle was pleased to watch the puppy skitter away from him as well. Then Rumplestiltskin pivoted, turned away from Chip, called his named and walked away as quickly as he could. She started to shake her head over such an idiotic thing when Chip suddenly turned and simply _flew_ after Rumplestiltskin as fast as his fat little legs could carry him. When he caught up, Rumplestiltskin bent down suddenly, grabbed his collar and gave him a huge reward of some sort of meat that had materialized out of nowhere.

"I hope you didn't steal that from someone at Granny's," she said, hands on hips, a smile playing about her lips.

Rumplestiltskin put a hand over his heart. "Right out of the refrigerator at home, I swear." Her smile widened and he handed her the rest of the turkey cold cuts that he was holding onto. "You try it."

Nervously, she called out to Chip and watched as he stood still. Rumplestiltskin waved a hand in the air. "Run, dear," he pointed out.

"Oh…right!" Belle called the puppy's name again and took off running. She turned to look back at the puppy and let out a happy squeal when she saw him following her. As he caught up, she stopped to try to grab his collar and he managed to evade her. It took three times, and far too much running, for her to finally get it right. She ended up back at Rumplestiltskin's side and grinned up at him. "That looked a lot easier than it was."

He reached out and grasped her hand for a moment. "You'll get it eventually. And Chip will soon learn that coming to you means he gets something good." He waved a hand and some more cold cuts appeared in it. "You'll need more than that little bit if you want to keep working with him."

She took the meat for her training happily. Rumplestiltskin pulled her in close for a moment, and pressed a quick kiss to her mouth. "I'll leave you to your training, love. Dinner at Granny's tonight?"

Smiling, she hugged him quickly and then let him go. "Sounds like a plan!" And then she turned from him, racing off calling Chip after her. She was most relieved to see the puppy follow _her_ instead of Rumplestiltskin. Of course, that might have been because she ran off with a bunch of turkey and ham stuffed in her pockets, but she wasn't going to split hairs over that one.


End file.
